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REAL WOMEN 2003 RESOLUTIONS
At REAL Women's annual meeting held in Ottawa
on April 4th, several very important resolutions were passed,
which will form a part of our ongoing work this year.
The Resolutions were as follows:
1. Court Challenges Program
As mentioned elsewhere in this issue, REAL
Women and other pro-family organizations are facing an up-hill
battle in the Canadian courts against the feminist/homosexual
groups whose legal challenges are being funded almost entirely
by the taxpayer by way of the federal Heritage Department's
grants to the Court Challenges Program.
The one-sided funding policies of the Court
Challenges Program, whereby it funds only the feminist and
homosexual anti-life and anti-family organizations, have precluded
the courts from hearing a balance of views. As a result, those
wishing to destroy traditional family values have been given
an unprecedented opportunity to achieve this objective.
It is also unconscionable that the Heritage
Department is gladly handing over millions of dollars of taxpayers'
money to keep the Court Challenges Program operating, even
though it has absolutely no control or knowledge as to how
the Court Challenges Program is using these funds.
The Resolution
WHEREAS the federal government established as a government
agency the Court Challenges Program in 1978 to assist financially
disadvantaged groups in assisting them with court challenges
on language rights, and extended this program in 1985 to
financially assist disadvantaged groups in court challenges
dealing with equality rights issues;
AND WHEREAS in 1994 the Court Challenges Program was
incorporated as an independent organization, called the
Court Challenges Program of Canada Corporation, which is
completely separate from the federal government with its
own elected Board of Directors;
AND WHEREAS the Board of Directors and administrators
of the Court Challenges Program of Canada Corporation are
in a conflict of interest in that they consist of representatives
from special interest organizations, predominately homosexual
and feminist, whose organizations receive the major funding
provided by the Corporation. This funding policy which discriminates
against pro-life and pro-family organizations, as they are
denied financial assistance by the Corporation, resulting
in their being denied an equal opportunity to appear before
the courts;
AND WHEREAS this independent corporation, the Court
Challenges Program of Canada Corporation, is financed almost
entirely by the federal government through the Department
of Heritage which has no control over the distribution of
the funds by this independent corporation;
BE IT RESOLVED that the federal government cease
to fund the Court Challenges Program of Canada Corporation.
To object to the government funding of the
Court Challenges Program, please write to:
The Right Hon. Jean Chrétien, PC,
MP
Office of the Prime Minister
Langevin Building
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A2
Fax: 613-941-6900
The Hon. Sheila Copps, PC, MP
Minister of Canadian Heritage
Les Terrasses de la Chaudière, 12th Floor
Hull, Quebec K1A 0M5
Fax: 613-994-1267
The Hon. John Manley, PC, MP
Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Minister
of Infrastructure
15th Floor, 55 Metcalfe Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A3
Fax: 613-943-0938
Your MP
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6
2. Enforcement of Child Pornography Law
Our police forces, as mentioned in the article,
"The Chaos of Child Pornography," (Reality,
March/April, 2003, p. 12) are unable to adequately enforce
the child pornography laws in Canada for a number of reasons:
- lack of a national strategy among federal, provincial,
and regional police and justice authorities;
- lack of internet training for police forces to track child
pornography on the internet and a lack of money to increase
staff for child pornography investigations;
- court-made problems such as police difficulties in obtaining
warrants for searches, and extensive requirements for police
to disclose all their evidence to the accused's lawyer,
as well as lenient sentences being handed out by the courts
to those convicted of possession of child pornography.
The Resolution
WHEREAS child pornography has become very accessible
by way of the internet;
AND WHEREAS enforcement of the child pornography law
has not been effective due to the lack of a national strategy
among federal, provincial, regional and municipal authorities;
AND WHEREAS the courts have taken a lenient approach
to sentencing those found guilty of violation of the child
pornography law despite the fact that the Criminal Code provides
a five year maximum sentence for possessing child pornography,
and a ten year maximum sentence for distributing child pornography;
AND WHEREAS the courts have compromised the police
forces in Canada in regard to investigations of child pornography
due to the requirement that extensive evidence be provided
before a search warrant is granted. Further, the requirement
of time-intensive and costly full disclosure to the defence
lawyers of all evidence seized in an investigation - which
obligates the police to categorize and photocopy all images
and photographs seized in an investigation, instead of requiring
only samples of such evidence - creates further difficulties
for the police force;
BE IT RESOLVED that a national strategy for the enforcement
of child pornography be developed, and that the legal impediments
to obtaining search warrants by the police and the extensive
disclosure rules be amended to facilitate the prosecution
of child pornography cases; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that sentencing guidelines be
provided to the judges so that stricter sentences be handed
down in child pornography cases; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that financial resources be
provided for more manpower and internet training for Canadian
police forces in order to enable them to properly carry out
their responsibilities in enforcing the child pornography
law in Canada.
Please write to the following to insist that
the child pornography law be properly enforced:
The Hon. Martin Cauchon, PC, MP
Minister of Justice
East Memorial Building, 4th Floor
284 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H8
Fax: 613-990-7255
Attorney General of your province
c/o Provincial Legislature
Your MP
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
3. Marijuana Use Must Remain A Criminal
Offence
The Liberal government appears intent on
decriminalizing marijuana, despite the fact that more and
more evidence indicates that it is extremely hazardous to
health.
In the last year (2002) alone, there were
five different studies published in the medical literature
indicating the harmful effects of marijuana. Such effects
include the increase in schizophrenia and depression by marijuana
users, especially adults and girls; marijuana becoming a "gateway"
drug to other illicit drugs; and the increase of both dependency,
and respiratory diseases, including lung cancer, caused by
marijuana use.
Moreover, for Canada to decriminalize marijuana
means that it will be contravening numerous UN conventions
which Canada has ratified, agreeing to keep the use of marijuana
as a criminal offence.
Finally, the US has notified Canada that
decriminalizing marijuana will lead to intense problems at
the border between Canada and the US. John Walters, the Director
of the US National Drug Control Policy in the White House,
has officially notified Canada that the US will restrict the
movement of goods from Canada into the US if we decriminalize
marijuana. According to the UN's drug monitoring agency, the
Narcotics Control Board (NCB), most of Canada's highly toxic
marijuana (up to 30% THC, higher than is now being produced,
for example, in Burma, Afghanistan or Jamaica, etc.) is being
shipped from Canada to the US. Should marijuana be decriminalized,
this large movement of marijuana across the US border will
only increase, due to the increased production and lack of
police surveillance here.
It is noted, due to the unprecedented amount
of marijuana pouring over the border into the US, (a tenfold
increase between 1998 - 2000), that the US State Department
considered placing Canada on its narcotics black list alongside
Burma and Afghanistan. It was only diplomatic pressure from
Ottawa that prevented this from occurring.
The Resolution
WHEREAS scientific evidence indicates that marijuana
use is hazardous to health and is addictive;
AND WHEREAS an evaluation of the relevant research
on the medical use of marijuana does not support marijuana
as a prescribable medicine;
AND WHEREAS Minister of Justice Martin Cauchon has
announced his intention to decriminalize marijuana under the
Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA), so as to render
its use a minor offence similar to that of receiving a traffic
ticket;
AND WHEREAS the law serves as a guideline to the conscience
so that to many, that which is legal is acceptable, which
results in the wider use of marijuana should it be decriminalized;
BE IT RESOLVED that marijuana use not be decriminalized
and that it remain a major offence under the Controlled Drugs
and Substances Act; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that deterrent legislation against
marijuana use be accompanied by well-funded education programs,
treatment centres, and the effective enforcement of the law.
Please write to:
Hon. Martin Cauchon, PC, MP
Minister of Justice
East Memorial Building, 4th Floor
284 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H8
Fax: 613-990-7255
The Hon. Anne McLellan, PC, MP
Minister of Health
0916A Brooke Claxton Building, 16th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0K9
Fax: 613-952-1154
Your MP
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
4. Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
There are now 300,000 children in Canada
suffering from Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder caused by their
mothers' abuse of alcohol during pregnancy. Children must
not endure the physical and mental deformities and emotional
and psychological problems throughout their lives because
of their mothers' irresponsibility during pregnancy. As noted
in the article, "The Unborn Child Begins a Comeback"
(Reality, Mar./Apr., 2003, p. 18), it is time that legislation
be passed to protect such children from this abuse during
pregnancy. In the meantime, since each day brings many such
tragedies, health warning labels must immediately be placed
on containers of alcoholic beverages and all alcohol advertising
to warn the consumer of the grave problems resulting from
alcohol use during pregnancy.
The Resolution
WHEREAS research indicates that at
least 1 in 100 Canadians are living with permanent learning
and behaviour problems resulting from alcohol abuse by the
mother during pregnancy;
AND WHEREAS the majority of children
born with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder are not diagnosed
with this disorder which leads to misunderstandings about
their behaviour;
AND WHEREAS the 300,000 individuals
now living with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder are at high
risk of school drop-out, trouble with the law, addiction to
alcohol and drugs, unemployment, poverty, homelessness and
mental illness;
AND WHEREAS the costs to the taxpayer
during the life of a child born with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum
Disorder is estimated to be at least $2 million;
BE IT RESOLVED that women in Canada,
and their partners be warned of the dangers to their unborn
child due to alcohol consumed during pregnancy;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the federal
government act on Motion M-155, proposed by NDP MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis
(Winnipeg North Centre), and seconded by Liberal MP Paul Szabo
(Mississauga South), which was passed in the House of Commons
on April 23, 2001, which provides that the Government require
health warning labels on the containers of alcoholic beverages
to caution expectant mothers and others of the risks associated
with alcohol consumption during pregnancy; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all alcohol
advertising, in print, radio or television be required to
warn the consumer that alcohol in pregnancy may cause permanent
mental and physical disabilities, and that a safe threshold
for alcohol use in pregnancy has not been established. and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that comprehensive
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder instruction be included in
all medical and health curriculums in Canada.
Please write to:
The Hon. Anne McLellan, PC, MP
Minister of Health
0916A Brooke Claxton Building, 16th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0K9
Fax: 613-952-1154
Your MP
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
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